Global Maps on the World Water Situation prepared for the World Water Assessment Programme (WWAP)
The growing global water crisis threatens the security, stability and environmental sustainability of developing nations. Millions die each year from water-borne diseases, while water pollution and ecosystem destruction grow, particularly in the developing world. In its recent Millennium Declaration, the UN called on the nations of the world "to halve by the year 2015 (...) the proportion of people who are unable to reach, or to afford, safe drinking water" and "to stop the unsustainable exploitation of water resources, by developing water management strategies at the regional, national and local levels, which promote both equitable access and adequate supply". The specific objectives of the project are to carry out global analyses needed to provide water managers and other stakeholders with the latest information about the current state of the worlds freshwater resources. The global analyses focus especially on the assessment or current state of both water availabilities and water withdrawals. Water withdrawals are split up into different sectors to estimate the fractions of total withdrawals the single sector claim for. Furthermore analyses were carried out to assess water stress on country and catchment level. backThis project involves several practical steps. First, the information to be provided was discussed with the Secretariat of the World Water Assessment Programme. The next step involves the preparation of the necessary inputs for the global analyses, which are performed using the WaterGAP model model. This model allows the conversion of assumptions about socio-economic and climate trends into trends of water withdrawals and water availability. Third, the WaterGAP model model is run using the prepared inputs, and model results are evaluated. The last step includes the presentation of results in different forms, according to the necessities of the WWAP. back
Model description (130KB, pdf) Examples for model applications
Contact: floerke@usf.uni-kassel.de back |